SOUTHWICK – Four town establishments are facing disciplinary action for allegedly violating their licenses by selling liquor to minors during a Feb. 3 sting operation.

Investigators allege state laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol to a minor were violated at:

• Quick Stop, 646 College Highway;

• Tucker’s Restaurant, 625 College Highway;

• Village Pizza, 521 College Highway; and

• Southwick Package Store, 466 College Highway.

The Board of Selectmen, acting as the town’s licensing board, was notified, along with the establishments, in a March 11 letter from the state Alcohol Beverages Control Commission that the license holders must appear in Boston for April 13 hearings.

“It is important that licensees and those interested in this matter attend the hearing to present evidence and testimony,” commission chair Kim S. Gainsboro stated in the notice of hearing. “The commission, in some cases, has the power to suspend, modify, revoke or cancel licenses.”

Massachusetts General Law chapter 138, section 34 states that criminal penalties for service to any person under 21 years of age “shall be punished by a fine of not more than $2,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.”

On Feb. 3, state investigators visited Quick Stop at 6:04 p.m., Tucker’s Restaurant at 6:15 p.m., Village Pizza at 6:54 p.m. and Southwick Package Store at 7:27 p.m., and allegedly found that each establishment had violated one count of selling alcohol to a minor.

None of the representatives from the four establishments was available for comment.

According to the state Web site, the commission’s investigative division has conducted sting operations “in cooperation and coordination with police departments throughout Massachusetts” against retail licensees since 1994 to address the problem of sales to persons under the legal age of 21 years old.

The enforcement measure has survived countless legal challenges in state Superior Court, which has deemed sting operations legal and not in violation of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment right against search and seizures.